Saluting Our Armed Services (S.A.S.) celebrated Veterans Day this year at Spelman College. Alicia Watkins was invited to share her story as a veteran at an event entitled: Veterans Day: Honoring Our Heroes on Nov. 11, 2015. Alicia Watkins is a retired Air Force staff sergeant who proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan. She risked her life for the freedom of others, survived the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, watched her colleagues die, and ended up homeless after retiring from the military.
S.A.S is a student organization that believes in “Serving those who serve.” As this organization strives to serve their community they participate “in service projects that support service members and their families, connect with veteran service organizations like the American Legion, and participate in campus activities that support and honor service members.” Therefore, there was no doubt in the need to have someone like Alicia Watkins as an honorary speaker/guest for this event.
The event started off with brief reflections from Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) members from Morehouse College and Spelman College. They all discussed their early morning routines and gave their viewpoint and experience on being involved in the ROTC program. Reginald Jones, a senior at Morehouse College stated, “I am a fourth generation Navy, my father, grandfather, and great grandfather have all served in the Navy.” Some students voiced their different reasons for choosing to serve, but the majority believe that this is “the best decision they have ever made,” Reginald Jones says.
After watching a video created by a student, followed by a song tribute from senior student, Asia Mosee, Watkins approached the stage visibly emotional from the previous performances. With a dream of attending Harvard Law School, Watkins explains that she started her service journey to pay for school. However, on September 11, 2001 she stated, “I was working just like I normally do… and I left where I was supposed to be to see what was happening in New York.” Struggling to get through her speech she explains how she went through five years of medical holds and eventually “watched all of [her] dreams slip from under her.”
Watkins “refused to let [her] circumstances that were given to [her] define her,” which led her to share her story as a homeless veteran on the Oprah Winfrey Show that changed her life. Watkins said, “I am standing here today because of those people in New York and… although I lost a lot of people on that day I could not imagine what people went through because I know what I went through at The Pentagon.”
As the event came to a close, Watkins explained her gratitude for S.A.S, the audience, and the members of ROTC. A member of S.A.S, Chelsea Kinlow stated, “I enjoyed [Watkins] transparency through her speech, and how she was genuine about her experiences, and how it impacted her.” She also stated, “Because I am a child of a fallen veteran I believe it’s important [to have this organization] in order to recognize how often people sacrifice their lives for us and how often people take it for granted.”
